In March 2004, Lilia Velasquez, the Flame of Justice travelled to Afghanistan as part of an international women’s rights delegation of the Global Exchange, a U.N. affiliate organization. "The upcoming national elections, planned for June 2004, are extremely important," writes Flama, "because it will be the first elections in history where women will be allowed to vote." Working to educate women’s groups about the importance of exercising their democratic franchise, Flama travelled the countryside to observe the registration of women voters. Flama also met with Dr. Masuda Jalal, the only woman presidential candidate.

Afghanistan is home to a new U.S-backed Constitution which the U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan called "one of the most enlightened constitutions in the Islamic world." In this important time during which ACCESO and so many other are working to spread the rule of law, model laws, based on successful examples implemented elsewhere, is an important phenomenon. "Legal transplantation does not always work and must be carefully introduced" explained ACCESO director James Cooper recently at a Faculty Development workshop held at California Western School of Law, "What Lilia and others are doing is very brave. We must continue to empower people to build democratic states, free of tyranny, inequality."

Please read more about the Flame of Justice as she travels through the dangerous terrain of Afghanistan, spreading the word about justice and equality for men and women:


I was invited to participate in an international women’s rights delegation to Afghanistan by the Global Exchange, a U.N. affiliate organization. The participants were 11 women from the U.S., Germany and France. The purpose of the mission was to learn first hand the political and humanitarian crisis in the country after 23 years of war and oppression, the rights of women under the new constitution, and to build partnerships that will help Afghanistan’s reconstruction and development.

The highlight of the trip was attending the International Women’s Conference on May 8th, where President Karzai addressed the approximate 3,000 women in attendance, praised the new constitution, urged women to register to vote for the upcoming elections, and to actively participate in government. It was important for the women in our delegation to show our solidarity to the woman of Afghanistan as they struggle for inclusion in the political process and for the protection of their basic freedoms.

Of great note was meeting with presidential candidate, Masuda Jalal, the only woman who is running for the highest position in the country. A medical doctor by training, Mrs. Jalal is running against all odds. (The U.S. is backing Karzai and his victory is almost a certainty). She is realistic that although the new Constitution allows her to seek the presidency, she may not get elected. However, she believes that by running she is empowering women to also get involved in the future of the country. Her campaign workers are ordinary people, university students, and professionals who have volunteered to take her message to all the villages in the country. Her platform calls for an open society, racial unity, equality, social justice, implementation of the constitution, transparency, and respect for the rule of law.

The elections planned for June 2004 are extremely important because it will be the first elections in history where women will be allowed to vote. However, out of 10.5 million people of voting age (over age of 18), only 1 million have already registered, which means that the elections will probably be postponed. In fact the U.N. has already warned that countryside elections to be held in June may have to be delayed because of poor security. $78 million have been allocated to register people.

On Health Issues:
The life expectancy of the average Afghan is about 43 years. Preventable diseases, such as polio, is endemic in the country. A woman dies in childbirth every 20 minutes, and in some regions, the maternal mortality rate is very high: a woman has a 50% chance of dying during one of her 8 pregnancies. The country is also seeing for the first time HIV infections and AIDS, which has become of great concern for the health authorities. Doctors told us that at least 80 percent of the population suffer from some form of mental illness, including post-traumatic stress disorders - the result of 23 years of conflict.

One boy at the Ashiana Street Children’s Project was asked by a teacher to draw what he wanted to do when he grew up. The by drew a plane flying and dropping bombs. When asked by the teacher to explain what the drawing meant, the boy answered that he wanted to be a pilot so he could drop bombs on the people that killed his family. Such feelings of revenge among young children are very common.

On Education:
One of the most significant articles of the new Constitution state that the State shall adopt necessary measures for the promotion of education in all levels, and to balance and promote education for women. At present it is estimated that Afghanistan suffers one of the world’s lowest literacy rates: UNESCO put the literacy rate for women over the age of 15, to be a mere 21 percent, though other groups claim the rate to be only 3 percent for women.

The greatest challenge for the country now is establishing enough schools to meet the demand of educating children, especially girls, who were not allowed to attend school during the Taliban regime.

With the financial assistance of NGO’s from the United States and other countries, small neighborhood schools are beginning to open to educate girls over the age of 13 who have never been to school. These girls would have difficulty attending a regular school because of their age. Some of these schools have no desks and operate in small rooms where students learn how to read and write.

With the assistance of the French and German governments, there are about 20 very good high schools operating in Kabul City. A child cannot be expected to succeed in life if he is denied the opportunity of an education. However, in Afghanistan, it will take many years before all children can have full access to an education.

Vocational Skills Training Programs
One of the most impressive programs for women is Women for Women International, that works with women in post-war situations. To date, the program assists women in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Kosovo, Iraq, Nigeria, ad Rwanda. Women for Women International assists women by providing food, housing, financial support, and skills training. At their training center in Kabul, we talked to women who were receiving training in tailoring, baking, and weaving. The program operates on the basis of sponsorship of people from all over the world, who pay $25 per month to sponsor a women for a one year training program. The women receive $15 per month to attend the skills training, $5 goes to a saving fund for each participant, and at the end of the course, she receives $60 to help her in buying something for her family. The remaining $5 per month is for the administration of the program. Presently there are 1,800 enrolled in the programs which has proven to be very successful. Once the women complete their skills training, they are able to enter the labor force and provide economic support to their families. Through their unique training programs, income generation support activities and micro-lending programs, Women for Women International is empowering women around the world with the tools they need to transcend poverty and oppression and realize their potential.

On Women’s Rights
Under the Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001, women in Afghanistan lost their most basic freedoms. They were not allowed to attend school, work, appear in public without a male relatie, appear in public without a burqa (head-to-toe covering), wear bright colors or laugh loudly. Punishment for disobeying these restrictions ranged from humiliation to capital punishment.

During the Taliban regime, women and girls were captives in their own homes, but two years later, the situation for women is very dangerous. Through women have more rights now than under the Taliban, they still face tremendous repression and violation of their rights. Young girls are being forced into polygamous marriages to much older men, parents sell their daughters for the purposes of prostitution, the supreme court has recently banned female singers from appearing on television, and banned married women form attending high school classes. Security outside of Kabul is virtually nonexistent and the streets are not safe even during the daylight. Amnesty International quoted an aid worker as saying: "during the Taliban if a woman went to market and showed an inch of flesh she would be flogged, now she is raped."

On Human Rights:
With met with Mr.Lal Gul, Director of Afghanistan’s Commission for Human Rights. One of the primarily goals of the Commission is women’s rights education. Through the use of workshops and even home visits, women are educated about their rights and how to defend them. The program makes women in different districts aware of their rights according to the rules of Islam, according to the Constitution, and even International Conventions such as SEDAW. The center holds courses and meetings for women.

Mr. Lal told us that forced marriages still take place. Often women burn themselves to death to protest a forced marriage and the family claims it was an accident. The Commission has an aggressive campaign aimed at educating parents against forced marriages. Parents are told that forced marriages are not condoned by Islam or the Constitution. Rather, it is a deeply ingrained cultural practice which must be eradicated.

Another program of the Commission is assisting Afghan men who were taken by the former Soviet Army when they were young boys. Many of these men are still living in Russia and want to be connected with their families in Afghanistan. The Commission tries to find the "lost children" and bring them back to their country.

When we arrived at the airport in Kabul, we witnessed a father meeting his son after more than 20 years in the former Soviet Union. It was a very emotional reunion and even those of us strangers to the event had tears in our eyes.Exiles Coming Home

One of the most important thing we witnessed were a number of Afghans who had returned home after years of exile. It is estimated that there about two-million Afghans have returned to their homeland, most of them from Pakistan and Iran, but many others countries, including the United States. The coordinator of our delegation was Wahid Omar, who is a French Literature professor at the University of Denver. He has lived in the United States for over 20 years, but it is now on sabbatical teaching French in Kabul University, and also in charge of many projects for Afghans for Tomorrow, a non-governmental organization responsible for building schools and assisting with educational needs.

Another exile is Mina Sherzoy, who lived in the San Francisco area from 1978 until 2002, when she returned to Afghanistan to help in the reconstruction efforts. In the U.S. Ms. Sherzoy was a successful businesswoman. Now back in Kabul, she is helping Afghan women succeed in the workplace. She is an advisor to the Minister of Commerce and is Director of the Entrepreneurship Development Programme for Afghan Women. Her program aims to teach women basic skills, such as reading, mathematics, clothes design and nursing. Ms. Sherzoy is very hopeful that her native country will recover despite all of the years of devastation and challenges ahead. Like Ms. Sherzoy, we met with other exiled women who came to the United States under the auspices of the World Bank or other NGO’s to work on specific programs that will help the people rebuild their country.

On the Constitution:
The U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan called it "one of the most enlightened constitutions in the Islamic world. Likewise, everyone in the international community has hailed the new Constitution because it provides for a tolerant, democratic Islamic State under a strong presidency, a two chamber parliament and an independent judiciary. In addition, the new Constitution explicitly recognizes equal rights and duties for men and women under the law. It also protects minority rights and languages, and the rule of law. The Constitution also provides that women will comprise 25 percent of Parliament, and calls for at least two female delegates from each province.

Enshrining women’s rights in the Constitution is an essential step for human rights progress, however there has been concern and strong criticism among women’s rights advocates over the language in the Constitution that states that "in Afghanistan no law can be contrary to the beliefs and provisions of the sacred religion of Islam." Furthermore, another article leaves matters where there is no provision in the Constitution or law, to adjudication by religious laws, which may leave individual rights, human rights, and women’s rights, vulnerable to extremist interpretations of Islam.

Security and the War on Drugs
Security concerns are a major problem for the country. Our delegation’s activities were primarily in the capital city of Kabul, primarily because of lack of security outside Kabul. On our last day of the delegation, we were taken to the province of Wardak (about a two hour drive from the city), where we visited a school under construction. For protection we had a car with locals from the village we were going to visit that acted as an escort for the trip going in and coming back. One of the escorts was armed, and stayed in front of us the entire time.

President’s Karzai’s greatest challenge is being able to exert authority outside Kabul, which at the present time is controlled by warlords and criminals. Grant Kippen, a Canadian Consultant serving as the Country Director for the National Democratic Institute in Afghanistan, told us that the country is facing major security problems. That it does not have a National Army or Police. He claims that the government recruits army soldiers as fast as they lose them. The reason is that men can usually be paid better by those running the drug business. In his opinion, the country is fast becoming a "narco" state. Recent news reports state that "opium cultivation in Afghanistan is surging across the country, defying all efforts of the Afghan government and international officials to stop it. Officials predict that land devoted to poppy cultivation will rise by 30 percent or more this year, possibly yielding a record crop. The growth in opium production is among the gravest threats facing the administration of President Hmid Harzi" (San Diego Union Tribune, April 10, 2004; article by Amy Waldman, the New York Times.)

Conclusion
Everywhere you turn in Afghanistan, you see destruction, misery, poverty, hopelessness and sadness. Twenty three years of war, coupled with a devastating drought, has left Afghanistan one of the poorest nations of the world.

With the removal of the Taliban government, the people of Afghanistan have the opportunity to end decades of war and start the rebuilding of their nation. The new Constitution is a major victory for women’s rights, but implementing will be a challenge. The culture remains ingrained with practices that undermine women’s rights. It will also take several years and a sustained commitment of significant resources by the U.S. and the international community to get the country back on its own feet and integrate it into the civilized world.

I left Afghanistan with a better understanding of the challenges people face. But I also saw on the faces of young children their eagerness for life, and feel optimistic they will be able to slowly rebuild their country for a better future.

The places we visited during the delegation:

1. United Nations Demining Project, sponsored by the government of Germany; especially trained dogs are used to detect mines.
2. Red Cross Rehabilitation Clinic for Mine Victims
3. Visit of King Nader Shah’s Tomb
4. Visit to Afghans for Tomorrow Vocational and Training Center for girls
5. Visit of Afghan Commission for Human Rights
6. Visit of Women for Women International, skills training program for women
7. Omar Mine Museum
8. Visit of the National Art Gallery
9. Attendance at the Women’s Conference on International Women’s Day
10. Visit of PARSA: Afhan Widow Project, where women make clothing and arts and crafts to support themselves
11. Visit of Kabul University
12. Visit of Kabul prison, a female detention center
13. Visit of the National Democratic Institute
14. The Alaudin Orphanage
15. Visto of Ashiana, Afghan Street Children’s Project, where street boys and girls are recruited to participate in education programs, such as paining, music, computers, and arts and crafts, and encouraged to pursue higher education
16. Rabia Balkhi Women Hospital
17. Visit with Fawzi Amini, former judge and now in charge of the Ministry of Women’s Affairs
18. Visit to the Province of Wardak, where a school is under construction under the auspices of Afghans for Tomorrow.

more photos of Lilia in Kabul